1. Field of the Invention
The invention generally relates to a utility belt system and, more specifically, to a convenient-to-use ergonomic modular/customizable system.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Tool bags and/or belt-supported pouches for carrying nails, screws, bolts and other tools are well-known in the industry. Typically, a “tool belt” is a belt having a number of pouches and/or tool holders fixedly or permanently attached to the belt. However, since no two people are alike or perform their tasks in exactly the same way, the preferred locations, sizes and shapes of the pouches and tool holders varies according to the person and the task at hand. Accordingly, there is a need for a tool belt that can be easily modified to suit the individual and the specific task.
Numerous tool bags and tool belts have been proposed that have removable or interchangeable pouches or tool holders. However, these tool bags offer only a limited range of adjustability, and pouches and tool holders can be easily knocked off of the belt, causing the nails, screws, bolts and/or tools to fall and possibly scatter. This is particularly a problem when a tradesperson is working at elevated levels, above other people.
The known tool belts have also exhibited disadvantages in the ways they add, remove or interchange pouches or object-receiving receptacles. Such receptacles have typically been permanently attached to the tool belts. When they have been removable, attaching or detaching them from the tool belt has been inconvenient, awkward and/or difficult, especially when the pouches or receptacles are large, bulky or heavy. With most tool belts, pouches are provided with loops through which the belts extend. With such tool belts, pouches or receptacles can only be removed by opening the belt and sliding that pouch off one or the other end of the belt. Examples of such tool belts are described in U.S. Design Pat. No. D302,489 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,923,105. Other patents disclose the use of various fasteners, such as snaps, hook and loop tape (e.g., “VELCRO”), hooks and the like. Such fasteners frequently make it to difficult, if not impossible, to detach the pouch, especially with only one hand while the other hand is occupied. The fasteners are typically behind the pouches: they must be released or forcibly separated or pulled apart, by pulling on a pouch in a direction substantially away from the user. These tool belts are neither designed nor intended to facilitate attachment, detachment or exchange of pouches while working or in difficult working environments such as on a ladder or crouching in a tight space.